A router is placed at a junction between two or more networks/segments, each network/segment can be using a different topology or protocol.

The router will intercept and forward any data packets passing through, most routers can be set up to block certain types of data packets which can be useful for security reasons.

The destination address of the data packet needs to be included within the header information, routers don't propogate broadcasts/multicasts.

The router will then decide the best route for transferring the data packet to its destination by interrogating a routing table which is either static or dynamically generated.

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